Trolley.



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(Application filed Oct. 8, 1899.)

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mint-15365 as co, Puofo-Llma. WASHIN No. 674,740. "Patented May 2|, I90l. A. PALMROS.

TROLLEY (Application filed Oct. 6. 1899.} (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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No. 674,740. Patented May 2|, 190i.

A. PALMROS.

TBDLLEY.

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ALEXANDER PALMROS, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH A. JEFFREY, OF SAME PLACE.

TRO LLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,740, dated May 21, 1901.

Application filed October 6, 1899.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER PALMROS, a citizen of Finland, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolleys, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a car and trolley devices applied thereto embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan View of part of the trolley-arm detached. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 show details. Fig. 7 shows a car and trolley device on a smaller scale than in the other figures. Fig. 8 shows a modified form.

In the drawings I have shown a car A of one of the sorts to which a trolley mechanism having my improvements is particularly well adapted, such cars being those which are employed at places where the distance of travel is limitedas, for instance, in freight-yards, the yards of mills, factories, and the like, where frequent but short trips are made and where the trolley-arm is to be so frequently reversed as to make it very disadvantageous to have to swing it around a vertical axis, as is the case with trolleys employed in ordinary street vehicles. From the top of this car there extend upward two posts or standards B B, which are placed as far apart as possible in order to provide a wide base of support. At their upper ends they are provided with castings or bearing-plates b b. O O are bars or rods which extend from the upper ends of the standards (being fastened tightly in the said top plates b) to points remote from the lower ends of the standards, so as to form strong inclined braces to strengthen and steady the posts or standards. D is a shaft situated transversely and mounted in the said top bearing-plates Z) I).

E E are bracket-castings each having a tubular part c, fitted to the shaft, and flanges e, the tubular part being secured by setscrews or pins to the shaft D..

F F are flat metal bars arranged to serve as the trolley-carrying arms. At their inner ends they are bolted or riveted to the bracketsE E. Their inner ends are separated to provide a strong base 5 but they are near their Serial No. 732,804. (No model.)

central parts brought toward each other and firmly joined together by means of a crossbolt G and a spacing and bracing thiinhle g. Outside of the bolt and thimble they diverge again toward their outer ends.

H is the contact device, it being a long roller adapted to bear upward against the conductor I. It is mounted at each end in carriers h, which are supported upon insulating devices J J, interposed between them and the outer ends of the arms F.

From an examination of the drawings it will be seen that each arm projecting upward from the central supporting-shaft D is substantially a duplicate of the other, one being indicated as a whole by K and the other by K.

L is a crank arm or bar connected to the shaft and having attached to its outer end a spring M, which in turn is attached to one of the standards, there being, preferably, one of these springs on each side. The spring and the crank-arm to which it is connected are so arranged that whichever arm K or K is extending upward will be held in its uppermost position by the spring, the tension of the latter being exerted now on one side of the axis of shaft D and now on the other, according as to which arm K or K is up.

N indicates a conductor-wire electrically connected with the contact-roller H and extending down along the arm K, (there being a similar conductor on the arm K,) extending to points near the shaft, and from thence downward to the motor-terminals.

This apparatus is designed for the purpose of enabling me to dispense with the numerous peculiarly-arranged switches which are now commonly used in electric railways of all sorts. These switches generally consist of cast metallic boxes with grooves and guideways adapted to engage with and move laterally the narrow grooved trolley-wheels which are mounted at the ends of the upwardly-extending poles in the ordinary constructions. In the yards of freight depots or stations and in the yards of mills and factories there are numerous car-tracks branching at frequent intervals from one to another, and overhead there are necessarily in the suspended conductor a corresponding number of switchboxes, requiring the motorman to be conand automatically pass from one wire to an-- other, being of such length as to be in continuous engagement with one or another. (See Fig. 2.) Cars used in such places must be frequently reversed in their direction of motion, and in the apparatus herein presented this is immediately accomplished by merely pulling down the upper arm of the trolley a short distance, whereupon the lower arm is immediately carried upward by the spring and the trolley-roller thereon is brought into and held in contact with the conductor.

I am aware of the fact that it has been heretofore proposed to mount a narrow grooved trolley-wheel upon the top of a double-ended arm, which in turn was mounted in the upper end of a single tubular post or standard, such device being proposed for use in the ordinary street-railways; but I believe myself to be the first to have provided a trolley construction adapted to meet the ends at whichI aim and by which I can both dispense with the switch-boxes and provide for a quick reversal of the car.

Again, the device herein is designed and intended for use on small trucks or cars whereon the space for the motornlan and the various devices for controlling and directing the car is much restricted. The purpose is to provide a contact mechanism which shall be light and occupy but little room and yet have a firm mounting and to which considerable power can be applied for forcing the contact upward without attaching springs or the like directly to it. The springs are not attached to the inclined arm, but are placed at the ends of the shaft, the shaft in my construction being the part to which the power is applied, it rotating in its hearings on the post and having the contact-carrying arm rigidly secured to it. In these respects the mechanism differs also from the earlier ones suggested that had as a contact-carrying part a rectangular centrally-open frame loosely mounted upon a stationary cross-bar and had only one of its ends available as a contact device, the other end being permanently provided with a weight, and therefore not reversible, as is true in my case.

A construction embodying my invention may be made by which the device is simplified, cheapened, and made more solid as to its supporting parts. Such an arrangement I have illustrated in Fig. 8. In this construction the contact-roller II is of the character already described. It is supported without insulation in carriers h, which are bolted to swinging bars F, provided with cross-bracesf.

The shaft D is considerably shorter than in the other construction, and the bearings d are brought close to the center, the legs 0 being inclined inward, as shown. The above parts are all in electrical connection with each other, so that whichever end of the trolley device be uppermost the current taken thereby from the line conductor may be conducted to the motor of the car from any convenient point. Thusa single insulated wire N may be connected with the frame 0 at a; and lead thence to the motor. In this 0011- struction the whole device is insulated by a wooden or other suitable base X, which may be the roof of the car when the latter is of suitable material. If the roof be of metal, the base X or other suitable insulation will isolate the device therefrom. In this construction the arms L and springs M act, as already described in connection with Fig. l, to hold either end of the device in contact with the line conductor.

Braces similar to those at f in Fig. 8 can be used, as shown on the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. These braces serve to strengthen the frame-like arm formed of the thin bent bars f f, being secured to them at their outer ends, and also serve to hold the roller-bearings in such way as to prevent clamping or binding.

I-Ierein I prefer to present claims for the novel features that are common to the two forms of construction shown in the drawings, and claims for such specific features as are incident to the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and '7, and reserve the right to present claims for the novel features of a specific nature incident to the construction in Fig. 8 in another application filed April 29, 1901.

What I claim is- 1. The combination of the motor-car, the two supports extending upward therefrom, one at each side of the car, the bearing or box at the upper end of each support, the transverse shaft rotatably mounted in said bearings, the reversible springs at the sides of the car connected directly to the said shaft, the reversible support K, K secured rigidly to said shaft and extending in opposite direc tions therefrom, and the two laterally-elongated trolley-contacts H, one at each end of the said reversible support, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the motor-car, the two supports extending upwardly therefrom, the shaft D rotatably mounted transversely in the said supports, the reversible springs respectively secured to the ends of said shaft, the brackets E, E rigidly secured to the said shaft, the bars F, F rigidly secured to the brackets at their inner ends, the laterally-extended contact devices, one on each side of the shaft D and secured to the outer ends of the bars F F, and the intermediate bracing and clamping devices at g, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the motor-car, the supports extending upward therefrom atthe sides respectively of the car, the rotary transverse shaft mounted on said supports, the reversible contact-carrying arm extending in both directions oppositely from said shaft, and having two side bars F, F, the rollers H, H at the outer ends of the said bars F, the bearings for the ends of each of said rollers, and the cross bracing-bars between the bars F and near the outer ends thereof, substantially as set forth.

4:- The combination of the posts B, B respectively at or near the sides of the vehicle, the inclined braces O, C, the shaft D mounted on the said posts B, B,the bars E, F having the spacing devices g secured between them and bent outward inside of said spacebars to provide a widened base of support on the shaft D, and bentoutward, outside of the spacing devices, and the elongated contactsup rollers carried thereby, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with the motor-car and. the upwardly-extending supports, of the shaft, the two laterally-extended contact-rollers, one on each side of the shaft, and the contact-supporting arm having the two side bars F formed of relatively thin bent metal connected to the rollers at their ends and extending outward from the shaft toward said rollers, and one or more brackets secured to the said side bars and connecting them to said shaft, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER PALMROS.

Witnesses:

JOHN L. WAGNER, R. GRos. HUTCHINS. 

